Water emergency declared in Copenhagen, town of Denmark

COPENHAGEN, N.Y. (WWNY) - Officials in the village of Copenhagen and the town of Denmark have declared a state of emergency because of a water shortage. So what are the village’s plans as its water supply drops to dangerous levels?

Copenhagen Superintendent Doran Johnson is keeping a close eye on the village’s wells. Only two of the three are supplying water right now.

“It’s very concerning because it’s the only source of water that we have are the three wells. With one down, if a second one goes down, the third well by itself will not sustain the village,” he said.

Users of the village’s water supply have been under a mandatory conserve-water notice since September 10.

Johnson says the village is producing 40,000 gallons of Water when it needs to be making 60,000.

“That tower level will continuously decrease until it may become necessary to haul water from another source,” he said.

So the village has made an agreement with Carthage to haul that water in by tanker if needed.

Meanwhile, the village plans to pump test wells that are currently unused on Woodbattle Road. It’s part of the village’s plan to get them up and running at some point, but they are trying to see if they can do it during the drought.

“The plant is not operable, so we would have to have some type of temporary treatment systems set up. We also haven’t run this by the department of health yet,” said Matthew Cooper, village engineer.

Village officials say grant funding along with assistance from declaring a state of emergency could help restore the old plant.

Another thing officials say would help - more rain.

The emergency declaration is set to expire on October 21, although it could be extended.

Copyright 2020 WWNY. All rights reserved.